Improvement in sewing-machines



I 2 Sheets-Sheet I. j H. PLUMM'ER.

. ,Sewi'rig' 'Mechine Feeder. v v

, No. 93,553. e Patented Aug. 10, 1869.

g a V H. PLUMMER.

Sewing-Machine Feeder.

".FEIERS, PHQmUTNOGRAPNER WASNXNG ON. D. c

Patented Aug. 10, 1869.

iUNI E J-S A ES BIRAMPLUMMERUF ROOKLYN, QY R ASSIGNOR Tov H'iiis'n t Anna 1 WM.-E. DOUBLEDAY & 00,01? NEW'YORKOITY.- 1

' 1|MPROVEMNTINSEWI G-MACHINES.IfJ. I

Specificationfbrmingipart of Letters liatent, No. 95,553,. dated-August10, IBhQM- Be it known that I, HIRA PLUMMER, of Brooklyn, in the'co'untyof Kings and State of New York, haveinvented, made, and applied to use acertain newand useful Improvement in Feeds for Sewing-Machines; and 'Idohereby declare the following to be a-full, clear, and

exact description of the said invention, refer;

ence' being had to the annexed drawing, 'making part of thisspecification, wherein Figure 1 is a-vertical section, illustrating my;improved feed as applied to a sewing machine. Fig.2 is a sectional view,illustrative of a meansfor giving a movement to the feed-1 'ingmechanism. Fig. 3 is .aj'plan, and Fig.4 1.

is a sectional view at the line at w,' illustrating my improvement asapplied to the presenting of braids or strips to the sewing mechanism.

QSimilar' marks of reference denotethe same parts. I j 1 Sewing-machineshave heretofore been made in whichthe feed has been eflected by alateral movement of the needlewhile the, cloth, Y

the cloth being held by spring-pressure. between stationary surfaces.The clothhasalso been moved by the joint action of va roughenedreciprocating surface, yielding stationary surface, a'nd'the needle.'One .or two wheels or rollers have. also been employed and movedprogressively. 'A fourfold feed-motionhas also been used, striking thefeed against thecloth, moving it, withdrawing the feed, and returning, Areciprocating pawl-action pressure-foot has also been employed. Thesefeeds have all been tested, and there are some objectionable features.Most all of them allow one of the thicknesses of the cloth to be forcedalong by the feed faster than the other, or else the needle or fabric isliable to injury and the feed is unreliable.

A sewing-machine feed has also been made with two spring-arms extendingat right angles to the slide, to which they are affixed, and to whichslide the movement is communicated by cams to feed the fabric throughthe agency of the movement of the arms laterally. When arranged in thismanner-there is considerable distance between the actuating-cam and thepoint where the feed clamps the fabric, and hence the feed will not bereliable, because ing or plaiting.

' any loosenessof the parts or lateral spring of the arms mayi' ary thelength of the stitch. v

The nature of my said invention consists in a feeding-clamp having twosurfaces, the first being partof the bed onwhich the fabric to he sewedrests, and the second portion of the feeding-clamp being above thefabric and connected around to the lower surface, so that the two formone instr unent capable of;.grasping theicloth between the surfaces atthe point where the fabric 'is to be sewed, in combination with. thereciprocating ,mechanism that operates to move both portions of thefeeding} clamp, by. acting. upon ,the lower portion of said clamp near;the point where the sewing is performedfin order that the stitches maybemade uniform, and not liable to'variations in their length, from: theparts springing or. be

coming loose fromwear. a .7 :By means of 1 this feed the material iskept perfectly smooth by the action of the clamp itself, and the feedmoves back to take a new position whilevthe -cloth is in a stateof restand held by the needle. When. the needle' is drawn out of the fabric thefeeding apparatus moves forward, carrying the material to be sewed, andalsothe guides,when such are used foroperating upon braid, or forturning folds inhemming, or the guidesemployed in tuck- .LIn thedrawing,co represents the bed of aliy se vv ing machine to which my feedmay be applicable b, theneedle of such machine. 'ci's'the lower surfaceof the feedingrclamp, and d is the upper surface. These are, connectedtogether, so as toseizethecloth with the desired pressure and bemovedtogether. r

I have represented in FigsJl and2 the plate a as moving beneath the bedin slides c, and

connected by the column 0 with the surface d,

so that they move together, and the motion is I This ring is fitted Theupper clamping-surface d might be similarly fittedwith a ring, ifdesired;

Thefeeding-clamp shown in Figs. 3 and 4 is especially adapted to sewingbraids or strips of material together, as in the manufacture of hats andbonnets, and can be applied advantageously to the sewing-machinepatented by me July 14, 1868; but its use is in no manner limited tothat machine, but may be applied with other sewing-machines.

The lower clamping-surface .cis made as a plate, and the upper surface(I is attached thereto. Both thicknesses of material to be united (if inthe form of strips) might pass with uniformity, of each coil that issewed on.

- This device, as before named, is especially adapted to sewing braidsfor hats andbonnets, in which case the piece of braid passes in betweenthe surfaces 0 and d, as shown; and the portion of the surface that hasbeen sewed lies above the plate d, with its edge against the gage 0,that is attached to d;

and 11 is an auxiliary spring. -presser, acting upon the surface of thepreviously-sewed article, (represented by the coiled crown-piece q, asshown.) The guide-pin r passes through the center of the coil of braidinto the slots, and into, a slot in the bed beneath, so that it becomesa center upon which the braid turns as it is. sewed up to form thecrown-piece, and also a centerupon which the clamp can swing as it ismoved by the pin k in feeding the ma, terial. The braid, being held bythe needle, is bent into a curve by the feed-plates c d and gage lswinging back on the pin 1' previously ment, and the gages o and Imaintain a perfectly correct width of braid exposed each coil,

and the center-pin r, constantly working back as the sewing progresses,causes the point on which the feed swings to be the center of thearticle being sewed, and at the same time the braid lies closely andcorrectly against the gages.

In sewing hats the crown-piece can be sewed as aforesaid, the braidswill be laid together with great regularity in the spiral form by theguide before described, and when the side crown is to be sewed the sameis performed by turning up the crown-piece edgewise and sewing thebraid, as before, until the same is of the propersize. The crown-will bewrong side out, and is to be turned and then the brim sewed upon itsedge, the operations being performed as aforesaid. This feeding devicemay be fitted with any desired character of guides for turning hems,guidin g tucks or plaits, braiding, or performing any other desiredcharacter of sewing.

The surface of the feeding-clamp may be smooth or more or lessroughened, andthe' spring-pressure 0f the clamps may be adjusted, ifdesired.- I

I do not claim asewing-machine feed formed of two surfaces, whetherplain, circular, rough-v .ened, or fiat, as these have before beenemployed, and they have in some instances moved together. 1 r

What I claim, and desire to secure by Let ters Patent, is-- 1. Thefeeding-clamp hereindescribed, consisting of the upper spring-arm d,conn,ected with the slotted sliding plate a, supporting the lowerfeeding-surface 0, when all are construeted, arranged, and operatedasdescribed- 2. The gage lfor theedge of the material, combined with thereciprocating feed, having.

; twomoving and pressing surfaces, one on each 1 side of the material,substantially as set forth.

3. The gage 0 and auxiliary presser 1;,incombination with the springclamping-sulfaecs c and d, as and for the purposes set forth.

4. The guide-slot s and pin r, in combinationv with the feedingmechanism aforesaid, forthe purposes set forth:

5. Thefeeding mechanism fitted toswing upon the pin that passes throughthe center j of the coil of braid to be sewed, substantially as and forthe purposes set forth.

to feeding the material forward, the next move -Witnesses: I

. CHAS. H. SMITH,

GEO. D. WALKER.

